Specialist Addiction Counsellor in Leeds | Mark Franklin | Start Recovery

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If you are looking for a specialist addiction counsellor in Leeds, you have come to the right place. Start Recovery is a private, one-to-one addiction counselling practice founded and led by Mark Franklin — a qualified addictions specialist based in Adel, North Leeds (LS16), serving clients across Leeds and West Yorkshire.

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About Mark Franklin — Addiction Counsellor, Leeds

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Mark Franklin is Start Recovery's founder and sole practitioner. Specialising exclusively in addictions — that's all he does — Mark brings a rare combination of formal qualifications, frontline experience, lived recovery, and deep personal commitment to every client he works with.

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Originally from a music background, Mark spent the late 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s as a DJ, producer, and artist. By the early 2000s he was burning out, and by 2010 it had become clear he needed help. Having already lost a job as a Music Buyer following a serious incident, he was still managing to function in a senior role managing products, distribution, and retail at a large American corporate company based at Pinewood Studios — the kind of high-functioning addiction that is easy to miss from the outside, and impossible to hide from the inside.

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The decision to get help changed everything. Mark went on to volunteer at a drug and alcohol charity in Ealing, London, joining the DIP (Drug Intervention Programme) team and enrolling to study drug and alcohol counselling. He returned to Leeds with his family, continuing to work in drug and alcohol services in Yorkshire while completing his studies - gaining experience in residential rehab, detox units, psychiatric wards (primarily with drug-induced psychosis patients), and secure units for male prisoners with severe mental health problems.

In 2015 Mark founded Start Recovery. In 2020 the practice won an award for Best Counselling Services in Leeds and West Yorkshire — an accolade that has since been followed by further recognition in 2021 and 2022.

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Qualifications & Credentials

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• Level 4 Diploma in Alcohol and Substance Misuse Counselling — the national benchmark qualification for practising addiction counsellors in the UK

• BSc (Hons) 2:1

• Working in addiction services since 2012 — in London, Leeds, and across Yorkshire

• Published author — Sober Days: How to Train Your Earworm and Stop Drinking Alcohol

• BBC Radio Leeds guest specialist — on addiction and ketamine misuse

• Qualified Kundalini Yoga teacher — Level 1, Kundalini University (July 2022)

• SMART Recovery group facilitator

• Multi award-winning practice — Best Counselling Services Leeds & West Yorkshire 2020, 2021, 2022

CPD training includes REBT, Motivational Interviewing, Neuropsychotherapy, Polyvagal Theory (Polyvagal Institute), Shame and Trauma, Mindfulness, Breathwork, Cannabis and Medicinal Use, Safeguarding, and Music and Sound Therapy.

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Why Work With a Sole Practitioner?

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At Start Recovery, you will always work directly with Mark — not an associate, not a different counsellor each week. That consistency matters enormously in addiction counselling, where the therapeutic relationship is central to progress.

Every client Mark works with benefits from:

• Specialist focus — Mark works exclusively with addiction. Not depression, not bereavement, not anxiety as a broad category — addiction, in all its forms

• Lived experience — Mark has been through addiction and recovery himself. That brings a quality of understanding and empathy that cannot be taught in a classroom

• Continuity — the same counsellor, the same approach, building the same relationship from first session to last

• Personalised care — every care plan is built around the individual. There is no standard script at Start Recovery

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Who Mark Works With

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Mark works with individuals at all stages of addiction and recovery, covering:

• Alcohol problems and alcohol dependence

• Drug misuse and substance use disorders (SUDs)

• Ketamine use and dependency

• Gambling addiction and problem gambling

• Cocaine and stimulant misuse

• Cannabis dependency

• Binge drinking and high-functioning alcohol use

• Addiction aftercare and relapse prevention

• Family members affected by a loved one's addiction

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Book an Initial Consultation

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Initial consultations are £59 for 30 minutes and are typically available within two weeks of first contact. Full sessions are £85 for 50 minutes, with package rates available for 6 or 12 sessions.

Based at 10 Holt Ave, Adel, North Leeds, LS16 8DH. Serving clients across Leeds and West Yorkshire.

Get in touch here — Mark aims to respond to all enquiries within 48 hours.